Boehner won't endorse citizenship pathway

2/5/13 10:42 AM EST

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) declined to endorse a pathway to citizenship for the nation's undocumented immigrants.

"I think this is a very difficult part [for] any of these bills, and I want to just encourage members on both sides of the Capitol and both parties to continue to try to come to some resolution," Boehner said at a Tuesday news conference.

The pathway to legal status is a key component of the Senate's compromise proposal, which has been endorsed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). The House is moving through its own immigration process -- the House Judiciary Committee has a hearing today on the subject.

"I want to applaud my colleagues on both sides of the Capitol and in both parties who have worked together to try to solve one of the bigger issues that we're dealing with in our country, and that's the issue of immigration," Boehner said. "Both legal immigration and illegal immigration. And I want to applaud Senator Rubio for his efforts. The bipartisan efforts here in the House and what I want to do is encourage both sides of the Capitol and both parties to continue talking to one another so that we can resolve this issue in a bipartisan manner."